"De nex' day, dat wuz Sunday, Ole Forrest come by wid his Rebel sojers—an' dey stole Massa's fine mules. Massa had a fine pair o' matched mules, dey wuz iron gray an' he druv dem to de carriage. Well, early nex' mornin' de feeder, he wuz Henry Nance, he come to our cabin an asks my fathuh is he seed Gains and Fox—dat's de mules. My fathuh say no dey mus' be out in de grove, but he say no, he hunt an' he call an' he whistle fo' em but he can't start 'um no place. Dey hunt some mo' den say dey better go tell Massa. After a little Massa say 'Henry an' Andy, you don' need tuh go to do fiel' dis mornin'.' Dey knows whut dat mean an' dey jes sit dar. Den Massa go out to de dogwood thicket an' he cut a bundle o' switches, all he cud carry. He take de men out to de bahn lot, has 'em take off dey shirts an' he wears out all dose switches. Den he say iffen dose mules not in de lot nex' Monday mawnin' de gonna git double de dose. Massa think dey sell de mules to de sojers an' pocket de money. But by nex' Monday mawnin' my fathuh an' Henry Nance is in Memphis—dey runned away.
"An' de nex' time de Yankee sojers cum through dar, Ole' Uncle 'Lias tuk Massa's fine carriage an' two mules an' him an' three women escaped to Memphis.
"When de war is ovah Massa call us all up an' tell us we's free. He say to my mathuh 'Now Sook',—her name's Susan but dey all call her Sook—he say 'Now Sook, you is free as I is'—but we stay dar jes de same. An' Massa he writ to Memphis fo' mah fathuh tuh come back, but he don' come so Massa go tuh Memphis tuh git him. Massa's got a eatin' cancer an he want my fathuh tuh come back. My fathuh wuz a'ways kind of a fohman. Massa'd tell him whut he wanted dis group o' men to do, an' whut he wanted dat group tuh do, an mah fathuh saw they don it. So when Massa goes fo' him he comes back.
"In Memphis he tells Massa he knows whar one o' his hosses is whut wuz stolen. Massa tells him kin he swear to it, he kin have it. So mah fathuh goes to de law 'bout dat hoss—Dey asks him can he 'dentify it—an' he say it got a white star on its face an' a white stockin on lef' hin' foot. So he git de hoss.
"I'se married 63 years ago—got de license outa Sardis. 'Bout twenty year ago ah went back dar tuh visit—tuk some o' my chillern an' showed 'em de chuch dere at Fredonia whar we usta 'tend service.
"Dey war mos'ly perty good to us down dah—'cose we nevah cud go nowhars 'thout a pass or we'd git whupped. Dey had a doctor woman to take care o'us iffen we's sick. Her name's Miss Ellen—An' dey's good an' careful 'bout womens when dey's gonna have a baby. She wuz jes given light work to do, 'cause dey wanted big healthy famblies.
"One time dey wuz Ku Klux come to de do. Ah nebber seed em 'cause ah run an' crawl unner de bed, but ah heerd um say, 'Please gi' me some water, I ain't had a drink since de battle o' Shiloh.'
"Ole Jeff Davis sho' made it hawd fo' de cullud folks but wid Abe Lincoln an' de grace ob de Lawd we's all free now."
[Wylie Miller]
Interview with Wylie Miller,
Cape Girardeau Co., Missouri.